Author: John Paulsen (Page 272 of 937)

      Mo’s third quarter helps Cavs survive

      May 1, 2010 /

      The Cavaliers trailed by 11 at halftime, but a 36-24 third quarter run spearheaded by Mo Williams’ 14 points (including 10-straight) gave Cleveland a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. From there, the Cavs turned up the pressure defensively, and LeBron James (35-7-7) asserted himself offensively, allowing Cleveland to pull away to win, 101-93.

      Williams finished with 20-5-6, but was actually outplayed by Rajon Rondo (27-6-12) for three quarters of the game. The Celtics turned the ball over 16 times and Paul Pierce missed 11 of his last 12 shots, finishing with just 13 points on 17 shots. That’s not going to get it done.

      The good news for the Celtics is that Kevin Garnett (18-10) looked fresh, and if Pierce would have had a usual performance, the C’s would have won. Part of the problem for Pierce is that he has the best athlete in the world (LeBron) on him defensively.

      Game 2 is on Monday night.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Failed box out costs Thunder Game 6

      May 1, 2010 /

      OKC led 94-93 in the closing moments of Game 6 when Kobe Bryant dribbled up the right side of the floor preparing to attempt a game-winning shot…

      Watch the video again. This time, notice how Nick Collison (charged with covering Pau Gasol) starts to cheat over on Kobe to help on a potential drive to the hoop. This is by design. What’s not by design is how neither Serge Ibaka (#9) nor Jeff Green (#22) rotates down and puts a body on Gasol. The players that they were covering — Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher — were ponderously standing out behind the three-point line, so they weren’t threats on the offensive glass.

      Instead, Ibaka and Green turn and watch Kobe’s shot. After the put-back, Jeff Van Gundy blamed Collison for not rotating back to Gasol, but physically-speaking, it’s tough to ask a guy to help on a Kobe drive and box out Gasol. That duty needs to fall to Ibaka or Green (probably Ibaka).

      Here’s a case where the Thunder’s inexperience really cost them. But it’s not like failed box outs haven’t lost games before. In the 1983 NCAA title game, Hakeem Olajuwon stood and watched the shot go up, allowing NC State’s Lorenzo Charles to sneak in behind him, catch the airball, and dunk it for the win. Here’s another look:

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Video

      Hawks stifle Bucks, 83-69

      April 30, 2010 /

      The box score tells the story of Game 6. The Bucks shot just 33% from the field and 27% from long range, and were outrebounded 52-41. The Bucks’ backcourt (Brandon Jennings and John Salmons), which has played so well of late, shot a combined 6-of-28 from the field for 20 points. Milwaukee just couldn’t find a rhythm offensively for much of the game.

      Credit the Hawks’ defense here. They were solid throughout the game, and although the Bucks cut the lead to seven in the middle of the fourth quarter, Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson were there to hit a few big shots to put the game away. This was a nice (and surprising) performance from a team that has been terrible on the road in the playoffs in recent years.

      The series moves back to Atlanta on Sunday for Game 7.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Just quit playing soccer, dude. [video]

      April 30, 2010 /

      This is arguably the worst soccer play I’ve ever seen. From YouTube…

      In Saturday’s MLS match against LA Galaxy, Kansas City Wizards striker Kei Kamara made history. He found himself right in front of an open net, managing to miss an open goal from less than six INCHES with no one near him.

      Instead of netting the sitter in the middle of the goal after the ball hit the post, leaving keeper Donovan Ricketts stranded, Kamara took a wild swing, missed it completely, fell over and knocked the ball in with his ARM.

      The stunned linesman immediately flagged, and Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter admitted: “It was one of the most unbelievable things I’ve seen in soccer.

      “It was unfortunate for Kamara but it was handball and credit the linesman for seeing it.”

      Epic fail. Poor guy.

      External Sports, Soccer, Video

      LeBron to win MVP

      April 30, 2010 /

      Here’s a shocker — LeBron James is going to win the 2009-2010 Most Valuable Player award.

      At age 25, James becomes the second-youngest to win back-to-back MVPs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a couple of months younger when he won his back-to-back award in 1972. The others two win back-to-back are Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Abdul-Jabbar. Only Bird, Chamberlain and Russell ever won the award three years in a row.

      Last year James won in a landslide, getting 109 of the first-place 121 votes given out to sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league. This year, James is expected to approach winning the award unanimously.

      LeBron has a good chance to win this award again and again, though NBA writers are fickle and they’ll start looking for reasons to give the award to someone else once voting for LeBron wears thin. The same thing happened to Michael Jordan.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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